Rotating egg coloring device

ABSTRACT

An egg coloring device with means to hold and rotate an egg. The coloring takes place when a coloring means is held against a rotating egg. An indexing drive allows drawing lines parallel to the axis of the egg, spaced equally apart. Templates placed next to the egg allow drawing of uniform patterns.

llnited States Patent [191 Kull ROTATING EGG COLORING DEVICE [76] Inventor: Leo Kull, 58 Westover Ave., West Caldwell, NJ. 07006 [22] Filed: July 18, 1973 [21] Appl. No; 380,513

[52] US. Cl. 118/13, 33/18 R, 33/21 R, 118/76, 118/504 [51] Int. Cl. B05c 11/12 [58] Field of Search 118/76, 13, 500, 31, 503, 118/301, 504, 505; 33/21 R, 27 L, 18 R; 117/38 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,256,599 2/1918 Schoop 118/301 X Nov. 19, 1974 2,024,903 12/1935 Algeo 118/500 2,727,325 12/1955 Jurinic 118/503 2,770,213 11/1956 Rekettye 118/500 X 3,048,146 8/1962 Coppola 118/504 X 3,358,644 12/1967 Greene 1 18/503 X 3,484,797 12/1969 Barnett et a1. 33/21 R Primary Examiner-Morris Kaplan [5 7] ABSTRACT An egg coloring device with means to hold and rotate an egg. The coloring takes place when a coloring means is held against a rotating egg. An indexing drive allows drawing lines parallel to the axis of the egg, spaced equally apart. Templates placed next to the egg allow drawing of uniform patterns.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENTELFIUVI9I974 3.848.564

.l ROTATING EGG COLORING DEVICE This invention belongs to a class of creative entertainment devices or toys if used by children.

The invention provides holding and rotating means for a boiled egg for the purpose of coloring it, which has been an Eastern custom among many religious and national groups. The coloring of an egg could be enjoyable to some people but it may be also a tiresome or difficult task, especially when more than a single color is desired.

With the help of a holding and rotating device the operator is required to hold a coloring means such as a pencil, marking pen, paint brush etc. against the shell of an egg and while the egg is rotating, perfect stripes, spirals and numerous other colored patterns can be effortlessly painted on the egg. The device further can be provided with an indexing drive which allows drawing of lines equally spaced and parallel to the axis of an egg. The painting process is easy and offer creative enjoyment to anybody from small children to the grownups.

Thus the object of the invention is to provide a device which can hold and rotate an egg for the purpose of coloring it.

A further object is to provide an indexing drive for incremental rotation of an egg.

' A still further object is to provide and hold template means next to an egg for drawing uniform patterns on the egg.

Other objects and features will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description and illustrations in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the device taken along the line 1 l of FIG. 2,

FlG. 2 is a partly fragmentary top view of the device and FlG. 3 is a detail of the indexing drive.

The illustrations show a base supporting bearing and clamping means to hold and rotate an egg in a vertical position. The base 10 has a rectangular box section to provide a housing for the rotating drive means. It further has a vertically extending support post 11 with guide holes 12 and 13 for a rod 14 which is bent to a U-shape. Base 10 could be most conveniently molded from a plastic material in one or more pieces but any other suitable material or manufacturing method could be employed here.

The purpose of the rod 14 is to support a holding cup 15 which will act like a live center in lathes. Cup 15 could be molded from an elastomer such as rubber with a concave end to match the end contour of an egg. It is pressed into a bearing and supporting bushing 16, molded from a plastic or any other suitable material. Bushing 16 is rotatably mounted to the end of rod 14 and axially positioned by a pair of retaining rings 17 and 18. The U-shape rod 14 has a longer leg 19 inserted through guide holes 13 and 20 so its end can extend to the bottom section of base 10. A compression spring 21, acting between the base 10 and a retaining ring 22, is giving a downward bias to the rod 14 and cup On the same center with the short end of rod 14 is another concave cup 23 made also from an elastomer such as rubber. It is resting on a thrust washer 24 which is supported by base 10. A shoulder 25 of a drive gear 26 is guided in a bearing hole 27 in base 10 and an extension 28 of cup 23 is press fitted through a hole in gear 26 joining the parts thereby.

Gear 26 can be driven by any suitable means such as a spring motor, manual drive with a flywheel etc., but the illustrations show a small battery operated motor drive. A.D.C. motor 30, as they are used in various toys, is mounted to a cover plate 31 which is screwed to base 10. Motor 30 is powered by two flashlight batteries 32 and 33 which are also housed in base 10. They are contacting each other in center while the end of battery 33 is in contact with a contact strip 34 which is fastened to base 10 and is permanently in contact with a terminal post 35 of motor 30. Battery 32 is in contact with a contact strip 36 which is again fastened to base 10 but its other upwardly tensioned end can make contact with a terminal post 37 of motor 30 only when a switch button 38 is pushed down. Pressing the pushbutton 38 thus can complete the circuit to power the motor 30.

Motor 30 has a drive pinion 40 on its rotor shaft driving a reduction gear 41. The latter is running on a post 42 which is fastened to base 10 and its pinion 43 is in mesh with gear 26 which is driving the lower cup or spindle 23.

Lifting the rod 14 allows the placement of an egg 44 between spindle 23 and holding cup 15 and pressing the button 38 will start the rotation of the egg in a clockwise direction. Holding now a coloring means 45 against the egg will result drawing of colored stripes to the egg. A vertical oscillation of the coloring means 45 causes drawing of wavy lines. Various other drawn shapes are possible which are only limited by the skill of the operator.

Means are also provided to rotate the egg incremen tally, so lines parallel to the axis of the egg can be drawn. FIG. 3 shows a ratchet drive which can serve as a simple indexing means. It includes a ratchet wheel 46, molded next to gear 26, a drive pawl 47 having a pivot stud 48 loosely fitted into a hole of drive lever 49. The latter is pivotally mounted to base 10 and plate 31 while its drive arm is extending through an opening in base 10 which also serves as a limit stop to lever 49. A tension spring 50 is anchored to a stud 51 molded to base 10 while the other end of it is hooked to the pawl 47. The spring 50 thus acts to keep an arm 52 of pawl 47 against the pivot of lever 49 and it further keeps lever 49 against the base 10. In this position the ratchet wheel 46 is completely free and the motor operation will not be disturbed. When the lever 49 is operated (dotted lines), pawl 47 will first be moved against the wheel 46 and then it will drive the wheel until arm 52 comes in contact with a tooth of wheel 46, stopping it positively. The arrangement prevents any possible overtravel which can be caused by the inertia of the motor which stays in geared engagement while the ratchet wheel 46 is operated. No backup pawl, as normally used in ratchet drives, is necessary because the gear engagement provides enough frictional hold preventing any possible backup when the ratchet pawl 47 returns.

Templates with circular, square, triangle or other shape holes could be used for guiding the coloring pencil 45. Some template holes could be molded in the post 11 (not shown) or separate snap-in templates 54 could be used. They can be molded from a plastic material or made from metal with holders 55 and 56 which can flex sufficiently for snapping them to the post 11 and providing a frictional hold with a possibility of sliding them to any desired position. Various shape holes 57 will serve then as template holes for drawing uniform patterns on the egg. The use of the indexing drive one or more increments at a time will insure an equal spacing of the shapes from the templates 54.

Various modifications and attachments could be used to best satisfy a desired application of this invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. An egg coloring device having a base, a holding means and a rotating means to hold and rotate an egg, said base supporting rotatably said holding and said rotating means, said holding means being spring loaded toward said rotating means with a stop position keeping them apart a distance slightly less than the length of a small egg, said holding and rotating means rotating on a common axis, said rotating means being rotatable by a power source, said rotating and said holding means providing a frictional hold for an egg when said egg is placed between them with the long axis of said egg lined up with said common axis, said power source being capable of rotating said rotating means together with said egg, said base including a post next to said egg with an equal clearance between said egg and said post, said post having means for attaching templates with various template holes next to said egg, said templates being slidable on and frictionally retained on said post, whereby said templates may be adjusted relative to said egg with said template holes serving as guiding means for drawing various shapes and lines to the shell of said egg.

2. An egg coloring device according to claim 1 wherein said rotating means consisting of a drive gear driven by said power source and a rotatable cup having a concave surface to match the end contour of an egg, said rotatable cup being made from an elastomer, said drive gear and said rotatable cup being secured together and rotatably mounted to said base member, said rotatable cup being on the outside of said base member.

3. An egg coloring device according to claim 1 wherein said spring loaded holding means being rotatably mounted to a U-shape rod having a long and a short leg, said holding means being made from an elastomer with a concave surface to match the end contour of an egg, said holding means having a bearing bushing .in its center rotatably mounted and axially secured to the short leg of said U-shape rod, said short leg having a common center with said driving means, said long leg being guided in bearing holes of said base member and said U-shape member together with said holding means being spring loaded toward said driving means.

4. An egg coloring device according to claim 1 wherein said rotating means having a drive gear and an indexing wheel for incremental advancement of said rotating means, said indexing wheel having ratchet teeth operable by a ratchet pawl, said pawl being pivotally secured to an operating lever, said operating lever being pivotally secured to said base, a spring acting to control the return of said operating lever and said pawl, said spring being hooked to an arm of said pawl between said pivot of said operating lever and said pivot of said pawl, said spring keeping said arm of said pawl against said pivot of said operating lever while said operating lever is in a stop position, said stop position holding said pawl in a position to clear said ratchet wheel, a motion of said operating lever swinging said pawl in contact with said indexing wheel and advancing said indexing wheel one increment, said arm of said pawl contacting said indexing wheel after said indexing takes place, said contact preventing any overshooting to said indexing wheel, said indexing drive advancing said rotating means together with said egg incrementally permitting drawing of equally spaced shapes and lines to said egg. 

1. An egg coloring device having a base, a holding means and a rotating means to hold and rotate an egg, said base supporting rotatably said holding and said rotating means, said holding means being spring loaded toward said rotating means with a stop position keeping them apart a distance slightly less than the length of a small egg, said holding and rotating means rotating on a common axis, said rotating means being rotatable by a power source, said rotating and said holding means providing a frictional hold for an egg when said egg is placed between them with the long axis of said egg lined up with said common axis, said power source being capable of rotating said rotating means together with said egg, said base including a post next to said egg with an equal clearance between said egg and said post, said post having means for attaching templates with various template holes next to said egg, said templates being slidable on and frictionally retained on said post, whereby said templates may be adjusted relative to said egg with said template holes serving as guiding means for drawing various shapes and lines to the shell of said egg.
 2. An egg coloring device according to claim 1 wherein said rotating means consisting of a drive gear driven by said power source and a rotatable cup having a concave surface to match the end contour of an egg, said rotatable cup being made from an elastomer, said drive gear and said rotatable cup being secured together and rotatably mounted to said base member, said rotatable cup being on the outside of said base member.
 3. An egg coloring device according to claim 1 wherein said spring loaded holding means being rotatably mounted to a U-shape rod having a long and a short leg, said holding means being made from an elastomer with a concave surface to match the end contour of an egg, said holding means having a bearing bushing in its center rotatably mounted and axially secured to the short leg of said U-shape rod, said short leg having a common center with said driving means, said long leg being guided in bearing holes of said base member and said U-shape member together with said holding means being spring loaded toward said driving means.
 4. An egg coloring device according to claim 1 wherein said rotating means having a drive gear and an indexing wheel for incremental advancement of said rotating means, said indexing wheel having ratchet teeth operable by a ratchet pawl, said pawl being pivotally secured to an operating lever, said operating lever being pivotally secured to said base, a spring acting to control the return of said operating lever and said pawl, said spring being hooked to an arm of said pawl between said pivot of said operating lever and said pivot of said pawl, said spring keeping said arm of said pawl against said pivot of said operating lever while said operating lever is in a stop position, said stop position holding said pawl in a position to clear said ratchet wheel, a motion of said operating lever swinging said pawl in contact with said indexing wheel and advancing said indexing wheel one increment, said arm of said pawl contacting said indexing wheel after said indexing takes place, said contact preventing any overshooting to said indexing wheel, said indexing drive advancing said rotating means together with said egg incrementally permitting drawing of equally spaced shapes and lines to said egg. 